The Galil is a family of Israeli small arms designed by Yisrael Galili and Yaacov Lior, produced by Israel Military Industries Ltd (now Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) Ltd).The Galil’s design is based on the Finnish RK 62, which itself was derived from the Soviet AK-47 assault rifle. It was selected as the winner of a competitive bid for the Israel Defense Forces that included many other designs and was formally introduced into service in 1972. Depending on the barrel length, magazine capacity and accessories, the Galil is available in the following configurations: a carbine variant known as the SAR (Short Assault Rifle), a compact MAR (Micro Assault Rifle) version, standard-length AR (Assault Rifle) and an ARM (Assault Rifle and Machine gun) light machine gun.